Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

drphila

jd84 said:

I've a few months left on a HSBC regular saver, and can now get better rates elsewhere.

The minimum pay is supposed to be £25, but what if I just cancel the standing order and leave it to mature?

Do you think they would even notice or care?

I can't see anything in their terms about the rate dropping if failing to pay in, only for closing early, so not sure why they say this, given you can pay more in later months to make up the full amount.

Has anybody else had experience of this before?

Thanks

You will be breaking one of their rules so they may close it early. Personally, I wouldn't risk it for £25

Having said that,when I have missed mandatory minimum RS payments with other banks in the past, they have always sent a warning letter and given me a 2nd chance

allegro120

jd84 said:

I've a few months left on a HSBC regular saver, and can now get better rates elsewhere.

The minimum pay is supposed to be £25, but what if I just cancel the standing order and leave it to mature?

Do you think they would even notice or care?

I can't see anything in their terms about the rate dropping if failing to pay in, only for closing early, so not sure why they say this, given you can pay more in later months to make up the full amount.

Has anybody else had experience of this before?

Thanks

AFAIK the deal is - you don't have to deposit, but if you do it has to be no less than £25.  I've canceled my SO starting from this month, but won't close the account and let it mature (6th Dec in my case).

Bridlington1

jd84 said:

I've a few months left on a HSBC regular saver, and can now get better rates elsewhere.

The minimum pay is supposed to be £25, but what if I just cancel the standing order and leave it to mature?

Do you think they would even notice or care?

I can't see anything in their terms about the rate dropping if failing to pay in, only for closing early, so not sure why they say this, given you can pay more in later months to make up the full amount.

Has anybody else had experience of this before?

Thanks

This discussion came up in June. I visited a branch and enquired about it and my findings were as follows:

Bridlington1 said:

Regarding the HSBC regular saver. I've just returned from my HSBC branch visit and they said the following:

• You must make at least 1 deposit of £25-£250 by SO per account month excluding the month in which you opened the account
• You may however make further deposits by manual transfer into the regular saver so long as the total amount you pay in by any method does not exceed £250 per account month and that at least £25 is deposited by SO. So if you wished you could make a £25 deposit by SO followed by a £225 manual payment into the regular saver each month or vice versa, or make a weekly deposit of £25 into the account by SO if desired.
• If you fail to make a deposit of between £25-£250 by SO each account month (excluding the month you opened the account) HSBC reserve the right to terminate their relationship with you in line with page 34 of the general terms and conditions. The person I spoke to in branch stressed that that does not mean they definitely will close your accounts for not depositing by SO each month but that they could do if they wished to since it would be a breach of their terms.

Some on this forum have cancelled the SO and been fine but personally I wouldn't risk it myself. I've already been banned from 3 banking groups (LBG, Barclays and Metro) and do not wish to add HSBC group to that list too. I had my Barclays accounts closed in November 2022, the only thing I can possibly think of that could've caused it was that I held both a Barclays and TSB student account simultaneously for 30 mins on the day I opened the account (a breach of the Ts&Cs), which could be argued is about as severe a breach as failing to pay in £25 or more by SO into a regular saver when the terms state you have to. 

Rosa_Damascena

Bridlington1 said:

jd84 said:

I've a few months left on a HSBC regular saver, and can now get better rates elsewhere.

The minimum pay is supposed to be £25, but what if I just cancel the standing order and leave it to mature?

Do you think they would even notice or care?

I can't see anything in their terms about the rate dropping if failing to pay in, only for closing early, so not sure why they say this, given you can pay more in later months to make up the full amount.

Has anybody else had experience of this before?

Thanks

This discussion came up in June. I visited a branch and enquired about it and my findings were as follows:

Bridlington1 said:

Regarding the HSBC regular saver. I've just returned from my HSBC branch visit and they said the following:

• You must make at least 1 deposit of £25-£250 by SO per account month excluding the month in which you opened the account
• You may however make further deposits by manual transfer into the regular saver so long as the total amount you pay in by any method does not exceed £250 per account month and that at least £25 is deposited by SO. So if you wished you could make a £25 deposit by SO followed by a £225 manual payment into the regular saver each month or vice versa, or make a weekly deposit of £25 into the account by SO if desired.
• If you fail to make a deposit of between £25-£250 by SO each account month (excluding the month you opened the account) HSBC reserve the right to terminate their relationship with you in line with page 34 of the general terms and conditions. The person I spoke to in branch stressed that that does not mean they definitely will close your accounts for not depositing by SO each month but that they could do if they wished to since it would be a breach of their terms.

Some on this forum have cancelled the SO and been fine but personally I wouldn't risk it myself. I've already been banned from 3 banking groups (LBG, Barclays and Metro) and do not wish to add HSBC group to that list too. I had my Barclays accounts closed in November 2022, the only thing I can possibly think of that could've caused it was that I held both a Barclays and TSB student account simultaneously for 30 mins on the day I opened the account (a breach of the Ts&Cs), which could be argued is about as severe a breach as failing to pay in £25 or more by SO into a regular saver when the terms state you have to. 

I am stunned - whilst banks are at liberty to do business with whom they like, banning is surely a sanction to cut off the lifeblood of fraudsters and not for minor lapses?

Bridlington1

Rosa_Damascena said:

Bridlington1 said:

jd84 said:

I've a few months left on a HSBC regular saver, and can now get better rates elsewhere.

The minimum pay is supposed to be £25, but what if I just cancel the standing order and leave it to mature?

Do you think they would even notice or care?

I can't see anything in their terms about the rate dropping if failing to pay in, only for closing early, so not sure why they say this, given you can pay more in later months to make up the full amount.

Has anybody else had experience of this before?

Thanks

This discussion came up in June. I visited a branch and enquired about it and my findings were as follows:

Bridlington1 said:

Regarding the HSBC regular saver. I've just returned from my HSBC branch visit and they said the following:

• You must make at least 1 deposit of £25-£250 by SO per account month excluding the month in which you opened the account
• You may however make further deposits by manual transfer into the regular saver so long as the total amount you pay in by any method does not exceed £250 per account month and that at least £25 is deposited by SO. So if you wished you could make a £25 deposit by SO followed by a £225 manual payment into the regular saver each month or vice versa, or make a weekly deposit of £25 into the account by SO if desired.
• If you fail to make a deposit of between £25-£250 by SO each account month (excluding the month you opened the account) HSBC reserve the right to terminate their relationship with you in line with page 34 of the general terms and conditions. The person I spoke to in branch stressed that that does not mean they definitely will close your accounts for not depositing by SO each month but that they could do if they wished to since it would be a breach of their terms.

Some on this forum have cancelled the SO and been fine but personally I wouldn't risk it myself. I've already been banned from 3 banking groups (LBG, Barclays and Metro) and do not wish to add HSBC group to that list too. I had my Barclays accounts closed in November 2022, the only thing I can possibly think of that could've caused it was that I held both a Barclays and TSB student account simultaneously for 30 mins on the day I opened the account (a breach of the Ts&Cs), which could be argued is about as severe a breach as failing to pay in £25 or more by SO into a regular saver when the terms state you have to. 

I am stunned - whilst banks are at liberty to do business with whom they like, banning is surely a sanction to cut off the lifeblood of fraudsters and not for minor lapses?

The banks do have the right to terminate their banking relationships with customers if they wish so long as they follow the correct procedures, giving adequate notice etc. If I was being cynical I would say that banning is sometimes used as a way of preventing banks from losing money due to unprofitable customers, in which case I will likely soon be bankless since I don't think any of the banks make money from me.

To be fair with hindsight being banned from LBG doesn't surprise me much, I had used them for multiple donor accounts within a short timeframe, had opened multiple EA accounts with them and bounced money through them for the sake of linking them to YouGov finance for the YouGov points amongst other things so I was foolish to think they wouldn't act sooner or later. See:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6433933/lbg-closing-all-my-accounts-on-18th-may/p1

Barclays seemed a bit harsh to me though, particularly given that I'd been told over the phone that I could switch a TSB student account into a Barclays student account in branch and in branch I was told that I could open the Barclays student account so long as I then closed the TSB student account. I took the matter to the FOS once I'd discovered they'd incorrectly marked the account as defaulted despite it never having a negative balance and was awarded £100 specifically for the fact that they could've given me 60 days notice instead of closing the account immediately and not for the closure itself.

Metro seems a little less clear cut to me though. I was declined for a current account with them last year before being accepted this year so unless they've possibly decided I was never eligible for the account in the first place? I've only ever had the one account with them and it has been used solely as a nominated account for some of my savings accounts so unless the volume of transactions combined with my student status could've spooked them? I don't know though, I doubt I'll ever find out exactly why they gave me a lifetime ban, I just know that from November I won't be able to bank with them anymore.

Regardless though (and in the interests of bringing this thread back on topic) in light of the above I do not wish to take any chances by deliberately breaking the Ts&Cs of HSBC's regular saver, not least because among other things being banned from HSBC would most likely mean being banned from First Direct too and at the moment their regular saver is a valued part of my collection.

Section62

Bridlington1 said:

Regardless though (and in the interests of bringing this thread back on topic) in light of the above I do not wish to take any chances by deliberately breaking the Ts&Cs of HSBC's regular saver, not least because among other things being banned from HSBC would most likely mean being banned from First Direct too and at the moment their regular saver is a valued part of my collection.

I think your approach is a wise one.  HSBC have been one of the touchier banks when it comes to their T&C's, and were very picky about who they would allow to have an Advance account.

The rate paid on the HSBC RS account is not bad, and for the sake of allowing £25 per month to be transferred into it by SO for the remaining 'x' months it is due to run I felt, like you, it was better to be safe than sorry.

wiseonesomeofthetime

I am in same boat with the HSBC RS, just two payment windows left to run.

Reduced SO to £25, starting 1 Sep, so just left £50 in HSBC current account to cover final two and forget about it until maturity 1 Dec 😁

SJMALBA

SJMALBA said:

Nick_C said:

BestSeagull said:

qsk said:

Has any "new" customer who opened 7% one and then applied for the 8% one? Are you treated as an existing customer in this case?

According to the T&C you are not but some people have been trying that sort of thing (opening an instant access saver followed by an exclusive RS, for example) anyway and MBS appear to have been lenient with these types of applications so far.

What makes you think that?

From the web site:-

"To be a qualifying member you must :

• Be an existing savings member (sole or joint) or mortgage customer.
• Your savings account must have money in it.
• Your account needs to have transactions within the last 24 months. "

So once you have opened the 7% account and made a couple of deposits, you are an existing member.

That was my reading of the Ts & Cs too; having opened the 7% last month, as a first time MBS member, and therefore having to wait for their snail mail processes, this morning, with the 7% now funded, I applied for the 8% RS - time will tell if it is successful...

Update: Success! Passbook for Exclusive RS received today. 

janusdesign

I just received my Mon BS passbook too for the 7% account - I feel like i've gone back to my childhood having a passbook in my hands.

I previously registered for Mon BS Online (27th August), but have yet to receive any login details in the post... nor have I funded the account (until I got the letter today I didn't know the FP details for sure).

their first email did say "Please note: Your account will not be fully open until your account has been credited and we cannot process any registration requests until this is completed.".

I did get a second email on the 31st stating...

"Your registration reference number is xxx

You have deposited £0.00 in your account while registration

Your registration will be processed shortly and an activation code will be sent by post to your registered account address in the next few days."

a question for those more familiar with MonBS "systems" - but does that first email mean I won't receive any login details until I make that first deposit? or does that second email mean the login details are supposedly already on the way??

I know there has been discussion about their contradictory and confusing content, but i'm unsure if my question has been addressed previously.

Nick_C

@janusdesign

Think you just need to wait.  I'm also a new customer.  I funded the account on 29/8 by faster payment when I received the letter with the account number, and again on 1/9.  Passbook shows the credits but no access to online banking yet.